Red Fox: Drumming Song
by VesperChan
Summary: On the run with murderous fay on their trail, three unlikely allies must find a way to free their friends and prevent an awakening most foul. Sequel to White Rabbit. ItaSakuShi with SaiSaku
1. Chapter 1

Previously: White Rabbit (Raise it up)

* * *

 **Red Fox: Drumming Song**

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That starts when you're around  
I swear that you could hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

Sakura reviewed her travel bag of toiletries and removed a switchblade. She held the spring loaded pocketknife up before using it on the seam of the wallpaper. Behind it she found the original wall with all the distressed seams and marks from tenants past. As she suspected, there was a patch of white plaster over the hallow sound of the wall.

Sakura put her knife away and used her fist this time. The plaster gave way like loose snow, raining down in thick chunks over her knuckles. Sakura shook it off and reached inside, fingers grasping for substance until they found a brick shaped box.

There was still plaster between her fingers but she ignored it as she slipped the box out and palmed it. It was just as small as she remembered it and wondered how that was possible. She had been much younger when she hid away these memories from fairyland.

' _Put away these foolish thoughts, remove anything that would cause you to be need to put away the things that lead you to these lies_.'

Lies.

There was a creak down the hall and Sakura dropped the box into her bag and shouldered it. The plaster would take too long to completely remove, but Sakura sweat most of it away, under the bed, with the back of her hand and then pressed the wallpaper back into place. The old glue stuck, but only just barely. In a few minutes, hours, maybe days, it would roll right back like a bad habit and the evidence would be visible.

That was fine. She didn't plan on coming back anytime soon.

Sakura waited by the window of her old bedroom and held her breath. There were footsteps in the hallway coming close and closer. Sakura closed her eyes to make the sounds sharper in her ears. Her heartbeat slowed as the door creaked open and a figure looked in.

The room was dark but the light switch was right next to the door. From underneath the windowsill Sakura watched as her mother glanced into the child's bedroom, sighed, and then closed the door again, never noticing the plaster or the cut in the wall. If the dust was anything to go by, no one had been in this room since Sakura last left it.

As the footsteps faded Sakura pulled herself up onto her window sill while opening it with her free hand. It creaked awfully once it got to the halfway point, so Sakura had to stop it there and shimmy out onto the slanted roof or risk summoning her mother back.

Once outside, Sakura readjusted her pack and closed the window. Climbing down the sycamore tree to the front yard and following the driveway to the street was impossible to mess up after having done the same thing hundreds of times in the past.

This time was different though.

When she got to her car Sai was slouched down in the passenger's seat looking tired and frail. Shisui was spread out in the backseat, sicker looking still. It would be a while before he could push himself again.

"Sakura?" Sai whispered her name, more from lack of energy than from wanting to wake the sleeping fay. He reached for her weakly and she handed him her pack instead.

"I got the things I needed. Come on, I'll take you somewhere we can rest."

"Home?"

Sakura shut the door behind her and buckled up. Through the trees in her rearview mirror she could still see the slanted roof she had just climbed down from. The yard was still shabby looking but hearty with happy weeds. It was odd to look at anymore.

"No, not home, but it's somewhere we can rest." She reached over and pat his hair back. "Try and rest. I'll carry you in if I have to."

Sai nodded, sagging further in his seat and closing his eyes. "Mmm, okay. But do me first before you worry about _him_."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder before starting the car and pulling out onto the main road. Shisui didn't, which meant that none of the other fay Sakura had knocked out mere hours ago were up either. She would drive until she couldn't drive anymore and pray that it was enough to separate her from them.

"Deal," Sakura answered in a whisper.

* * *

Her stunt bought them a day, but a day was all she needed to pack up her life in the back of her car and make tracks. She was too well equipped with the ability to disappear from one place into the next; sometimes that meant a new world altogether, and sometimes that meant the Motel 6 of the interstate highway where the rooms were cheep and the questions scarce.

There were things she grabbed from Sarutobi's manor stashed against the far corner and a pile of books Sai chose to take with him, but they had been so rushed with worry there hadn't been time to pick up everything Sakura would have wanted. She only had time and room for the things she needed. Her books had been left behind, along with the handful of framed photos of her and Ino.

God, what had become of Ino?

' _God's not going to talk to you tonight, much less answer such a silly question._ '

As she sifted through her things she realized she was missing PJs should could actually be seen in. For the foreseeable future she would have to share close quarters with two other guys, and the nightshirts she owned, while comfortable, were a little too risqué for her comfort level.

She had taken her phone charger too, but had been too afraid to turn on her cell and too scared to smash it. She didn't know what to do.

"Shisui is waking up."

Sakura looked up from her things to see Sai standing stiffly in front of the only full sized bed in the room. It was a good sign and a terrible sign all at once. Shisui waking up meant Itachi was waking up, and Sakura didn't want to be foolish and assume he wouldn't track them down once he was able. Still, she was eager to hear from the Black Rabbit that had almost given up his life for her once.

Shisui rolled over in bed and reached for the fabric front of his shirt, pulling at it and tugging it away from his neck. His eyes cracked a second later and he stilled before shooting up like a bullet from a gun. The harsh edges of his body went rigid until he saw her and then relaxed.

"Where?" He wavered a bit where he sat, head bobbing back and forth as he struggled to regain equilibrium. Sakura watched as he blinked and attempted to forces his eyes to focus.

"It's not much to look at," Sakura answered, standing behind Sai's shoulder. "We're in a motel room. We're about a hundred miles from Carnation manor and Danzo."

Shisui nodded before his eyes settled into focus and narrowed in on Sai. Sakura saw red and moved before Shisui's hands could wrap around Sai's neck. The Uchiha lunged and Sakura caught his hands, falling on him and dragging him down to the bed where she wrestled him into submission. He gave in almost as soon as he felt her around him, but the glaring and angry sounds didn't stop.

"He knew!" Shisui hissed, changing his direction and instead pressing himself closer to Sakura, glaring at Sai all the time. "He was working for Danzo and he was prepared to sacrifice you to him. What's he still doing here? Why haven't you killed him yet?"

"Sai isn't our enemy, shhh, stop it, don't look at him like that." Sakura squeezed Shisui and pulled him to her like she would an angry cat. He was still agitated but she could feel him settling into her arms and calm, little by little. "It's not Sai's fault. He didn't plan any of it. He was just a pawn."

"Pawns can be dangerous."

"Sai helped us, he had nothing to gain and everything to loose but he still chose us over the only family he's ever known." Sakura looked up at Sai even as she pet Shisui's hair down. "He made that choice at the end."

Shisui's hands spread wide around her elbows and gripped her tight. "He was working for Danzo and the old alchemist is known for brainwashing his spies. You can't trust him. He's lying to you."

"I trust him."

"There is no reason to trust him, don't be stupid. Please, let me kill him."

Sakura saw Sai's shoulders hike a fraction but he never ran or reacted more than that. Sakura watched him and he watched her back, black eyes unblinking.

"I trust him."

"Why."

"I don't have a reason you'll accept, but I choose to trust him, and you're not allowed to hurt him." She squeezed his shoulders and felt his eyelashes shudder against where they rested on her shoulder. "Besides, you're still weak and need to rest."

He groaned and Sakura moved to lay him back down while Sai retreated to his corner of books to make himself scarce. Sakura wouldn't let Shisui do anything to him, but that didn't mean Sai wanted to hang around the Uchiha.

Shisui complies with a bit of prompting and Sakura manages to get him under the covers. His eyes are more focused but start to go fuzzy as Sakura pushes his head to the pillows. "Why do I need so much rest…what happened at the end?" He takes a deep breath and then his eyes don't open anymore, though Sakura knows he is still awake and waiting for her answer.

"That was me. I used a banishing bell, the Harrowing class."

Shisui's eyes snapped open and he nearly sprang up from the bed. Gone was the black of his irises, both eyes were spinning with the red pinwheel designs his fay court was known for. "You what?"

Sai looked up from the boo he was reading but didn't say anything. Sakura doubted he had ever heard of such a thing and wanted to know what the big deal was for Sakura to have used a banishing bell of such a forbidden class.

"I'm not fay, it doesn't bring me any danger." Sakura tried to play it off by waving a hand over her shoulder but Shisui caught to way those same shoulders stayed up high. Her body language betrayed her.

"It might not have been a danger for you to use, but that doesn't change the fact that it was Harrowing class. What did you have to give up?" His eyes were searching, fading back to black.

Sakura looked away and caught Sai staring. "Harrowing means that the magic is fueled by sacrifice. The cost of magic is payed by the user giving something up that is equal to the power of the magic they wish to preform."

"That's different from fay magic." It came out as a statement, but somehow, Sai's words sounded like a question.

It's easier to look at Sai and answer his statements like they're questions than it is to look at Sai and feel the weight of his blatant questions.

"Your magic comes from you, Sai. You were born with magic inside you, right next to your soul. I wasn't. The Fay are born with their magic interwoven into their very soul. You can't take magic from them without killing them, not like you can with a wizard or sorceress. Changelings …if they don't have magic, they are mutated to make room for the magic. But there are ways in which we can use magic that isn't even a part of us. It's useful because even if we're spend and have nothing left, we can still pay to use that power. Some pay in pain, some pay in memories, some pay in meat, some pay in blood, some pay in promises, and some pay in sacrifice."

Sai blinked. "I did not know this, but I had no need to know such a thing before."

Shisui glared at the younger male through his lashes and reached for Sakura's wrist, running the pads of his fingers along the underside of her veins. "I've been out for so long, I can feel it. That was no small power."

Sakura didn't meet his eyes.

"What did you give up?"

After a pause Sakura's hand reaches for the fabric over her heart. The tattoos are there, her victory icons, but not in the same way she remembered them. At the bottom of them all was a wishbone that protected her memories and mind. She had told Itachi that much, but she hadn't told him the other thing it did.

When she checked her icons days earlier, when she first changed out of that silver dress and heels, she saw the broken wishbone split at the joint into two uneven halves. The memories she had stolen were now free.

"One of my icons broke. It no longer works."

"Which one?" His eyes look to her shirt as if he could see through the fabric to the marks above her heart. "What does that mean for you?"

'You want to tell them what you did? What a horrible friend you were to the people who were willing to die for you?'

'I was protecting myself!'

"Protecting yourself from what?" he asks her and Sakura is startled to realize she spoke the last thought out loud. Her face heats and she wants to look away, but Sai's staring at her now too.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk about it right now. I need some time to process it I-"

She feels her words still in her throat and she hates herself for how the taste of rotting apples makes her feel sick, but when she looks up, she sees it's only Sai creating something out of ink. He was in charge of sending out ink cats and birds to watch around the motel and every few hours they needed to be redrawn. She hadn't flinched when he did it the first few times and had all but ignored the taste of magic.

"If you need time We'll wait. I understand. You can't go back to the home of Sarutobi, but I can take you to my home in fairyland where you will be safe from their reach. In the morning I will take you there and-"

"Danzo has already taken it by now," Sai interrupts.

Shisui glares hotly and the younger boy. "What do you mean? A mortal can't just take my lands so easily."

Sai shrugged, sending his ink cat off. "No, but Itachi could. We didn't have to do anything."

The mention of Itachi is enough to silence Shisui and infuriate him all at once. There is no mystery on the balance of power between the two cousins. Itachi is the stronger one and it's not hard to imagine him taking something over that once belonged to Shisui. What was difficult to imagine was Shisui taking that thing back. His lands were lost to Itachi and he had no way of overpowering or outclassing his cousin. Shisui was fast, he wasn't strong.

"What else did Itachi take?" Sakura asks, knowing Shisui wants to, but can't form the words himself.

"Not many other places. Danzo locked most of the other manors and castles in the Uchiha court up in pocket times."

"He shouldn't be able to do that, he's not a wizard!"

Sakura felt something sick in the back of her throat at the sound of Shisui's words. He was right, this was supposed to be impossible for Danzo who was not a magic user like Sarutobi. Alchemists used magic by manipulating the elements already pre existing in nature. What Danzo pulled off was more than any alchemist had ever been capable of.

"Sai?"

The boy looks up from his books for her.

"Is Danzo a changling?"

"I think he was when he was my age, but I do not know that for sure. I only know that he has icons as you do. I do not know where he got them from or even what they all do."

Sakura can't breath for a second as she struggles over the memory of Mito's hands in her body and the trials and the transition from fully human to not quite human.

When caterpillars spin for themselves a chrysalis to live it, they enter a new stage of life where they do more than just transition. If you crack open the flaky layers of a week old chrysalis, you won't find a caterpillar slowly turning into a butterfly, or even anything recognizable. During metamorphosis the body of the insect breaks down into a formless mass of goo that is then reshaped in a new, grander image. The caterpillar is literally unmade and then shaped into something new. There is no slow evolution, only the destruction of what was once true into something new.

'What was once this can not just become that.'

Trials prep changelings for the last great test of their metal.

"How much do you know of his icons?" Shisui asks, leaning forward. It doesn't seem like he will go back to bed and rest anytime soon, no matter what Sakura says. She doesn't interrupt.

Sai looks back down at his book and turns a page before answering, never once lifting his eyes. "He never showed anyone all his icons, and no one knows how many he as exactly except maybe himself. But I know he has at least two. He has used both in my presence."

"Has he used either on you?" Sakura guesses, unable to ask anything else.

Sai's eyes stop scanning the page. He doesn't look up, but Sakura can tell he's no longer reading the book. It's enough of an answer even if he doesn't say anything. Sai was too broken for Danzo not to take advantage of. Of course the man would use whatever power he had on Sai. That's what evil men do.

"Sorry," Sakura quickly amended. "Don't feel like you have to answer that."

She wishes she was back in the wine cellar of Sarutobi's manor with a mug of hard cider to match Sai's. He had promised to share the drink with her, and she had told him he was still too young, but he would have ignored her anyway. What was a little hard cider to someone who had tasted fairy wine? In the cellar on the floor they would talk and admit things, share things, confess things. He'd tell her a little about what he felt and she'd tell him a little about what she saw. Maybe he'd even tell her what Danzo did to him to make him so uniquely broken.

She looks to the clock on the end table and tries to remember what it said when they first checked in. It was November second, All Soul's Day and it was nearly over.

"We need our rest. We can figure out what happened and what needs to happen next in the morning. Sai, how are the ink patrol?"

"We're set for another eight hours." He looks down at his book again.

Sakura nods and turns to Shisui pushing him into the covers. He glares at her all the way down. "You need rest and so do I. Don't get up or make too much noise because I need my sleep too."

Sakura stood and moved to the bathroom to change and brush out her hair. It had gotten longer and needed to be braided over her shoulder for when she slept. Maybe she would cut it, but she didn't feel like it when all her brain could think about was surviving and the broken wishbone. In the morning she would tell the what it meant.

* * *

The Hall of Cups was more like a golden dungeon.

In the center of the room lay an iron cradle curved up to hold a man or woman, but never a babe. Three of the four walls had long tables pressed up against them and the ceiling was vaulted to make room for all the dripping chandeliers that were far too common in the house of the Fox High Queen. She loved things that sparkled as much as any fay and never denied her indulgence.

On the tables sat cup and chalices, mug and goblets of all manner of metal and shape. Some were large and dazzling, others humble and small. Each one had a substance inside it. Each one was unique.

There were two fay on either of her arms, and Sakura barely felt it when they led her to the iron cradle in the center of the room. They pulled at the silk robe over her body and it fell into a moon colored puddle around her ankles. She remembered sucking in that breath and holding it behind her teeth as her skin stood to attention at the exposure. One of the fay maids picked her her hair braided it up to keep it off her neck. The other took a wet cloth to rub all of Sakura's skin raw.

Ready, they led her to the cradle's side and helped her in, then left her there.

Time didn't have a name for how long or short Sakura waited in the metal. Candles lit didn't melt wax, and no sun or moon moved in the windows. Time didn't move, but Sakura felt herself exist for longer than a second. It was Fay time, it wasn't her time.

"Our time means nothing to you. You will know this if you ever leave here," someone once told her.

Sakura remembered asking when she could go home and hearing only laughter. There was no retreat from the bargain she had made. A foolish child deserved a foolish fate. What else was meant for selfish brats?

Sakura didn't hear the door behind her open, but she felt the air in the room shift and change, like ever inanimate object turned in attention to the new presence. For a human, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed when she saw the outline of the high queen of the entire Fox Court. Mito was as lovely as they said, and twice as terrifying for it.

The queen of flaming red hair and fox fire eyes stood before the first table and perused the cups before pinching the grasses out of one and adding it to her mortar. She moved to the next table and did the same, choosing leaves from a taller goblet with wide sides. Before moving on she took the colored flowers from another low chalice.

At the last table she paused, glanced back over her shoulder and then reached for the herbs that came from a shabby looking cup. The herbs were ugly and barbed and Sakura felt sick at the sight of them.

Compared to such a beauty Sakura doubted she looked any more appealing than a thorn in the mud. She was a weed among wild flowers. She had a decade of feeling inadequate and out of place, but the way the queen looked at her made Sakura feel ten times worse.

When Mito spoke it was like the sound of metal ringing prettily. She sounded like bells, a thing that nearly all fay hated and some even feared. Many stopped the ringing of bells as soon as they hear it.

"Each child from my iron bed is a unique bled of life. The last girl that lay there was not made of such things as yarrow or mistletoe. She was too big for such things, too far gone for molding. But you…you're a ugly thing that has what we don't. You're quite empty, nothing next to your soul and no sparkle behind it. That's why you know how to feel."

Mito brought up her mixing mortar and ground the parts of plants together. She paused after a moment to consider the mixture and then began again. Sakura didn't dare speak while she waited.

"Did you think she would survive because she was fay? Is that why you let her win the last icon from the trials?"

Sakura shut her mouth and then her eyes. She pressed them both closed and kept them shut. She didn't want to hear the High Queen's words and wished she could shut her ears too, but her hands were pressed to her sides and she kept them there. There was no way she could ignore the sound of the powder being scraped out of the mortar into something else.

"You thought you were being humble, or was it selfishness?"

Sakura braces as her iron bed is tilted up so her head and upper body are inclined above her knees and ankles. When the bed stops moving she opens her eyes and sees Mito watching her. The High Queen is smiling.

"I think there is much my sons and daughter could learn from a creature like you. We know no such feelings of longing or desperation, it's not in our nature to feel such a way…at least, not until it is taught to us."

"Please," Sakura whispers, feeling her heart stutter in her chest. "I just want to go home. Let me go back, please. I'm sorry for what I asked for, please just send me back."

"That's why you're here. Didn't you say you would give anything for your precious home?" Mito holds up a small bowl and runs a single, perfect, pale finger along the edge. "So here your are, giving me what I want so that you may go home."

"What is that?" Sakura asks, already knowing why she had been chosen but not understanding the implications of becoming the Rabbit Nomination. She had just wanted to survive the trials alongside her friends and go home. There were too many horrors.

"I want victory, sweet beast, the kind that comes unending for generations. I want dominion, I want power, I want submission. There are a great many things I want, but what I will take from you is the title of this Rabbit Game. You will run for us better than any other Rabbit before or after you. None will know how to run as well as the fearful and the desperate."

Mito stepped forward and lifted the cup in her hands to Sakura's face.

"I'm not a fay. I wouldn't be any good for you," Sakura whispered, watching as the cup drew closer. She wanted to go home, or back to Karin, but she couldn't move once bound my the magic thrall of the Iron Cradle.

"Not to worry, grotesque one."

Mito pinched Sakura's jaw and tilted the cup to the human girl's lips. The concoction went down smooth like honey and bitter like Granny Smith apples. Sakura felt where it settled in her stomach and closed her eyes to the echo of it, burning her like a spoonful of soup on a cold day. It was almost pleasant at first, but that did not last. Next, it was hot, and then after that, it was burning her alive from the inside out.

Sakura screamed, unable to do anything more. No longer girl, no longer human, Sakura was a scream; she was nothing more and nothing less than the sound of pain that owned her completely.

Mito's voice was too perfect to be human. It came like a chirp of pitched metal. Her eyes were too wide and well painted and too lovely to look at. Her voice was more of a coo. "We have a whole year to train you up after I make you in our image…. I will leave you fearfully and wonderfully made."

Then Mito stuck her hands into the mess that was Sakura and made her anew.

* * *

 _You know what you will find when you break open a butterflies' chrysalis? You know what you will see?_

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That throws me to the ground  
I swear that you should hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

 _AN:_ So here it is, I'm going to be submitting weekly updates, sometimes twice a week if it's well received, about my fay au Sakura and her rouge bunch on the run. White Rabbit ended with no final romantic pairing, but you'll see a lot more 'ust in this sequel. A lot more sexual tension and stupid fan service peppered in there alongside the actual plot. This was my Nano novel, so I was just really having a lot of fun with it more than anything.

I hope you enjoyed and stick around. Please review and let me know what you thought. I'm truly and honestly trying to better myself and want to work on this with that sort of goal.

Vesper Chan


	2. Chapter 2

Previously: White Rabbit (Raise it up)

* * *

 **Red Fox: Drumming Song II**

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That starts when you're around  
I swear that you could hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

Recap: Mito pinched Sakura's jaw and tilted the cup to the human girl's lips. The concoction went down smooth like honey and bitter like Granny Smith apples. Sakura felt where it settled in her stomach and closed her eyes to the echo of it, burning her like a spoonful of soup on a cold day. It was almost pleasant at first, but that did not last. Next, it was hot, and then after that, it was burning her alive from the inside out.

Sakura screamed, unable to do anything more. No longer girl, no longer human, Sakura was a scream; she was nothing more and nothing less than the sound of pain that owned her completely.

Mito's voice was too perfect to be human. It came like a chirp of pitched metal. Her eyes were too wide and well painted and too lovely to look at. Her voice was more of a coo. "We have a whole year to train you up after I make you in our image…. I will leave you fearfully and wonderfully made."

Then Mito stuck her hands into the mess that was Sakura and made her anew.

* * *

 _You know what you will find when you break open a butterflies' chrysalis? You know what you will see?_

* * *

She slept more than eight hours and awoke with a start, feeling the weight of a heavy sleep stick to her and tug her back in the direction of the bed. Disoriented for only a moment she flipped over and fell onto her knees out of bed before scrambling up again. Her hair was a mess around her face, the braid having come undone in her sleep. She pushed the messy strands away from her eyes, backwards over her skull, feeling the shape of her head-it was whole and unbroken. She was not unmade.

"Just a dream," she whispered, shutting her eyes and leaning sideways against the wall. She could hear someone in the bathroom running water through the shower and Sai was asleep in the chair. One of his ink cats lounged atop the armrest.

Behind her the water turned off.

"Sai? You didn't come to bed?"

He didn't stir and she guessed he fell asleep where he sat. There was a book left open across his lap. Drawing closer she could see the title. The Physiology of the Human Emotions. Sakura picked up another one of his books and flipped through it. The title was similar and she saw the interior content was all about developing social awareness. It looked like a self help book for people on the autism spectrum.

The door to the bathroom opened and Sakura heard wet feet move across the tile. She didn't turn around, but replaced Sai's book and pulled a blanket off the bed to drape across his body. The cat's tail twitched back and forth, eyes fixed on watching her as she did her best to make it comfortable for the boy.

"New Destruction won't even let me in anymore."

Sakura almost turned around at the sound of the voice but caught herself at the last moment. "What?"

"It's the name of my castle, the one they gave to me when I won the races. Itachi had his own, but he always preferred to crash at mine."

Shisui came up to their bed and she heard him sit down as the old springs groaned under the new weight. Sakura risked a look back over her shoulder and saw he at least had a towel around his waist and one over his head. Those heavy black curls of his were dripping water droplets like dew on morning flowers. His eyelashes were extra dark and far reaching.

"What do you mean?" Sakura moved to stand in front of him, still keeping a distance. "How would you know something like that?"

"You were asleep for a long time. I got restless." He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"You left?!" Her voice spoked and she clamped her hands down over her lips, body hot with embarrassment, but Sai didn't stir. "What the hell were you thinking? What if they caught you, or what if they tracked you back here? Oh God, if you were able to make it there and back in that short time-"

"You're safe here," Shisui snapped, interrupting her and not flinching for the way his voice might have woken the other runaway in the room. "I wouldn't have been so sloppy. And there's a lot of things I'm lacking in or don't measure up to Itachi in, but I'm faster than him, at least. I know the secret ways that he can't follow me through."

He folded her hands together and held them until they shook. Sakura took a sideways step to see more of his face from under the shadow of the towel. His eyes were hard and his expression pinched. He looked so unhappy with himself. She had forgotten how hard this had to be on him. His home was taken, his family taken captive, his world turned upside down. Whatever Itachi had been to him, it had been more than enemies, more than what they were now.

Sakura turned around and sat down on the bed beside him. She didn't touch him and didn't reach for him, but he leaned in closer to her, head bent low like a chastised puppy's.

"I know, I'm sorry for reacting like that." Sakura didn't touch him, but let him continue to lean closer and closer to her. Soon their shoulders touched and he stopped moving, waiting to be pushed off or shoved aside.

"He took over everything except the capital. There was no way I could get in. There were so many dead bodies outside the gates. Itachi and the others killed them all. It was a-it was supposed to be a coup but Madara locked himself away with the rest of the high court."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening."

The Fay were bloody, ruthless, and cruel, but they prided themselves so much on being civilized. They didn't make a mess out of themselves when they hated each other, they set up war games to take their frustration out on.

"I've not heard of such a thing happening to the courts like this. The Senju must be roving in delight with the way things are going." When he realized his mistake, Shisui waved a hand as he offered up his explanation. "The Senju court is the seelie court we play the Rabbit Games with. They would love to see us fail especially after I kicked their butt in the games last round."

"Do you think they could have had a hand in this?" Sakura asked, trying to remember where she had heard of the Senju before. It sounded familiar.

"No, they're insufferable, self righteous pricks, but they're not underhanded like this. No, this sort of skullduggery is he kind of stuff I would expect from a wizard, or someone human."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's a very fay thing for you to say. Just because you can't lie doesn't mean you're above this sort of treachery. Humans are no worse monsters."

"I didn't meant you." He turned to her and the towel over his head slid down, pulling some of his curls backwards only to have them flip forward again.

Sakura stood, not wanting the conversation to turn personal. "This isn't about me. We were talking about the other things you learned. You said you were able to make it there and back in so little time. How did you manage it?"

"I used the Iron Highway. I was there and back before they even noticed me. I went home first, but the gates were all locked and the servants I knew were no longer about. Itachi's court was there, his help was in the kitchens, his property was on the grounds."

"You saw Itachi?"

"No, but I saw his people there. He's staying in my castle like a vindictive child, as if it were a trophy to display." Shisui's fists hit the mattress on either side. "I know he was unhappy with the way we were treated after the races, and what his family did to him, but I had no idea he hated me so much. To take my house like that was like rubbing salt on a wound."

Sakura remembered dancing with him and the way he held her when she shook from her flashbacks. He had been stiff at first, but he always noticed her. He knew she took her tea with honey in the first week and gave her the space she needed when things were starting to overwhelm her. She had liked Itachi, and not just because he was pretty like Ino pointed out. No, She had liked Itachi because of who he was. He was patient with her when she told him she had seen those ugly parts of his past. He wasn't the sort of person she pegged for a traitor.

"I…I'm not someone that should really be saying this, because I barely knew him, but I didn't expect that of him at the end. I thought he was someone we could trust."

"It wasn't just you. I didn't see it coming even after I knew how he felt about…" he glanced upwards at where she stood looking down at him and let his words trail off. "I was surprised as well."

Sakura chuckled to herself and ran another hand through her longer hair. "This is the most frustrating job I've taken in a while. If I knew this was what I was signing up for I think I would have stayed in New York City." She stretched her arms out at her sides. "But there's no going back to that now. There's no way we can go to your place, and no way we can go back to Carnation Manor. I have enough money to keep us here for a while, but that's not a fix."

"Anyplace the boy would know would be a place Danzo knew of, we couldn't risk that either," Shisui offered, glaring at Sai. It was clear he still didn't trust the child.

"I'll find us a place here, I'll manage somehow, but that's only one problem to deal with. Danzo will come for us, if not to skin you and me than to stop Sai from spilling anything. I doubt he would be willing to let us go if he swallowed children up in that ivy. What do we do about Danzo?"

"You mean you think we should do nothing?" Shisui asked, sounding surprised.

Sakura rolled her shoulders, frowning at the suggestion. " _No_. Obviously we can't do that. He has Ino and her family. A lot of people got caught in his crossfire and I can't leave her behind, but let's be realistic right now, we have limits. Neither of us are the fighter type, we run. That's what we were made for, running away. What can we do?"

"Who says we have to hit back?" Shisui ran a hand through his wet curls. "He said he wouldn't hurt them while he did whatever he said he wanted to get done. I don't think your friend is in immediate danger, and he hates Sarutobi but also loves the guy in an old timer sort of way. He won't kill Sarutobi."

"While we do what?"

The idea of leaving Ino alone made Sakura's stomach curl up and flip. She had never been the strongest or the best of anything, not even the trials. But she never gave up on her friends at least. Leaving Ino felt too much like abandoning her. So what if she was safe? She wasn't free.

"We could seek out the other courts to help. They'll do something if for no other reason than to preserve their pride. A human did this to us. They'll take care of Danzo once they find out. It's the very reason Danzo wanted to shut us up."

"Other courts…?"

Sakura had not known much of any court aside from the ones she had direct contact with, which meant she knew of her original court, the unseelie court she raced against, and the Uchiha court. How many were there in America? She had thought most of the courts were oversea where the tradition was stronger.

"The Uchiha are the Crow Court, the Senju are the Oak Court, the Kain are the Ram Court." Shisui listed off a few more but none of it made any sense. He didn't list her court and she wondered if he even knew about it. Did many people know of it? She had thought it more powerful and large court, but compared to what?

"I don't know anything about any of the courts you mentioned, but even if you tried to explain it to me know and I don't think it would make sense. I need food and so do the two of you."

"I can go days without food," Shisui huffed, smiling a rakish sort of grin.

"Cool, but I can't, and neither can Sai. I'm going to go change and freshen up. We're going out to eat when I'm done."

"What if the kid isn't awake by then?"

Sakura glanced sideways at Sai, noticing the cat was gone. "He's been awake for a while, haven't you, Sai?"

The boy cracked open a single eye and Shisui frowned. Sakura waved and then turned into the bathroom with a bag of her things. Over her shoulder she called out to the two of them to play nice and, 'not kill each other while she was changing.'

When she came out again Shisui was fully dressed and looking ready to leave. His hands were deep in the pockets of the narrow black jeans in addition to a white muscle tee shirt and a leather jacket lined with fur. She hadn't remembered grabbing those things for him and when he caught her staring he flushed, asking her not to ask. The nicer suit he had been wearing when he ran was in a pile on the end of the bed.

Sai was back to reading his book from earlier but the blanket she had draped across him was still in place.

"Where are we going?" Shisui asked.

"Somewhere with breakfast food. I want waffles and sugar right now," Sakura admitted, pulling on an army green jacket complete with hand stitched patches bought of Etsy before her life went to hell in a hand basket.

She popped the hood and dropped her things into the oversized pockets while stepping into her combat boots and lacing up their fronts.

Sai watched her while tugging on his own shoes. "It's five in the afternoon. Where are you going to find a place that still serves breakfast?" Sai asked.

"Welcome to Denny's. Is it three adults?"

Shisui smirked, glancing over at Sai. "Well, this one's a kid so I think he needs a coloring book."

The waitress barely blinked at them before grabbing three adult menus and leading them to a booth. Shisui pushed Sai in and then slid in after the kid so that he could be across from Sakura. Sakura ignored it all while peeling off her jacket and grabbing the all day breakfast menu and asking for three waters to start with.

The waitress left a moment later on the promise of getting right back to them with their orders. The restaurant was nearly dead, even for being at the normal time most would go out for dinner. That was fine. More room for them.

"You said something about not knowing about the courts…" Shisui began before pulling out a travel map.

He started to unfold it and spread it across the table. Sakura helped him keep it down with the syrup shakers. Shisui pulled out a sharpie and Sai flinched, reaching for one of his pockets and glaring. Shisui just smirked.

"I said I didn't know everything, not nothing," she said. Still, her knowledge was close to nothing.

"I don't know everything either, I'm just proficient with the east coast clubs. Anything further west than Georgia is mystery to me unless it's from Seattle or Oregon."

Shisui then began to draw stars over cities and write their names under them. Sakura saw the Crow Court drawn in messy script far up in the lowest corner of Main. He further down he traveled the more Sakura held her breath until he reached Virginia and she saw him write: Fox Court in messy cursive.

"I can hardly read your chicken scratch," Sai commented, glaring at the mess of courts. Shisui named about twenty five different ones.

"Not my fault you can't read."

Sai just glared.

"Which ones are seelie and which ones are the unseelie?" Sakura asked, noting how there were an uneven number on the map.

"I don't' know for all of them, but most of them are unseelie. I'm sure there are others that stay hidden, but since the Crow Court is an unseelie court we know more courts that are on the same vein."

He started to fold the map back up when he spotted the waitress coming back with their waters and had it put away before she reached their table. Sai reached for the sharpie before Shisui could put it away and stashed it inside his jacket's inner pocket.

"What you care to order, guys?"

Sakura read off her order to the waitress and handed in her menu. When Sai hiked his shoulders and started to mumble about something Sakura interrupted and said he would be getting the same thing as her but with a side of eggs and sausage, and yes she was willing to pay the extra two bucks for it. Shisui ordered an omelet with extra meat and the waitress was satisfied to take their menus away with her and submit the order.

Once she was gone Shisui started to unfold the map again, but only unfolded half of it. Sakura unwrapped her napkin full of silverware and used the end of her spoon to point to a spot on the map.

"What do you know of this court?"

Shisui leaned forward. "Them? They're cousins to the Senju I think. They're at least on good terms with them, but they don't travel north. I've never interacted with them before and not a lot is known beyond the rumors, why?"

"What rumors?"

Shisui shrugged. "They have a high queen that is crazy, but they're super old so no one says anything. Ugh, they're a pretty hardcore matriarchy which is unusual, but like I said…crazy queen calls the shots. But I'll repeat my question from earlier, why?"

Sakura tapped the star that identified where the Fox Court was located in Virginia. "This was my court."

Sai leaned forward to get a better look at the map while Shisui's eyes went a little wide. "Oh."

"Was she really crazy?" Sai asked, not picking up on the social cues that kept others from being so blunt.

Sakura didn't seem to mind. "I guess so, but I thought that was how all fay were. What else did I have to compare her to? She was crazy enough to make her white rabbit out of a human changeling. She wore the eyes of her dead husbands in glass rings on six of her fingers. She was master of the foxfire though."

"I didn't know they participated in the Rabbit Games," Shisui said.

"They lost a lot. I can imagine they didn't like to advertise that."

"But you won," Sai said. "It's why you're still alive."

Shisui's eyes flashed and he looked ready to slap the other male at the table for that comment but Sakura didn't react. She had a lot more patience when it came to Sai. She braced for the flashbacks all the same, but they didn't come.

"Yeah, I won and I got to go home. Three guesses how they felt about that." She slanted her eyes over to Shisui and raised her brows.

"Not many fay like giving up their trophies," he whispered.

"No, they don't, do they?" Sakura sighed, leaning down to rest the side of her face in her open hand after propping her elbow up on the table top. "But a promise is a promise, so I'm here."

'Good job getting away,' the voice inside her head mocks.

"But I'm not telling you this for the story. I told you one of my icons broke as payment for the Foxglove Bell? It was a wishbone icon and it protected me from loosing my memories, but it also kept memories locked up."

"What kind of memories?" Sai asked, playing with the edges of his napkin and tearing at it.

Sakura looked to Shisui but blinked and leaned back. "Food's here."

The trio sat back in their seats and moved the things aside to made room for their food. Sakura started to dig into her food before Shisui even saw his and only gave a thumbs up when the waitress asked how the food was. It was a pretty straightforward exchange that was over in less than two minutes.

Sakura reached over and stole one of Sai's sausages before dipping it in her maple syrup and biting into the link. He didn't even protest when she reached to do it again and that agitated her enough to put chunks of her waffle into his mouth before stealing more of his food. Shisui leveled half lidded eyes on the younger male's posture and huffed before turning to his own meal. He left strips of bacon at the far edge of his plate closest to Sakura. When he won't stop pouting she swipes it for herself.

"You were going to tell us more about the memories inside your wishbone," Sai said after a while. He picked at his food but ate when Sakura looked his way.

"Yeah. Basically I left the Fox Court on pretty crummy terms. I walked out with two birds in the air if you know what I mean." She looked up and saw both boys staring at her with the same blank expression. "Never mind. I left on bad terms, but a deal's a deal. Mito let me go, but there were those in her court who wanted to stop me so I took their memories of me and locked them away to keep them from chasing after me or tracking me down again in the human world."

"How many memories did you take?" Shisui asked, frowning slightly.

Sakura shrugged. "Less than a dozen. There were only four I was really worried about, the rest were just to keep them from speaking. It pissed Mito off but I told her I'd do worse if I wasn't left in peace. She told me it didn't matter what I did, that true freedom was a myth. Huh, guess she was right."

"She knew you took their memories but she let you go anyway? That's a punishable offense." Shisui waved a fork in her direction. "She either really liked you or was feeling generous that day."

"She made a promise, gave me her word. There wasn't a lot she could do to get out of it."

Sakura said that, but her words lacked confidence. Yes, it was true that Mito had given her word, but there was something else that Sakura was afraid to admit. When Sakura walked out the High Queen had laughed and laughed and waved like a pageant queen at parade, enjoying Sakura's departure like any good show. She had been pissed at Sakura for what she did to her grandsons, the twin fay princes, but she still laughed at the way Sakura left. Scary.

"You'll be back one day," she laughed at Sakura's back. "There's no way you can stay away."

"Mito's psychological profile is consistent with one who would be more inclined to play mind games than punish people who make life interesting for her," Sai interjects. When Sakura sends him a wide eyed look he just shrugs and turns his face away. "Danzo had me look into all the relatives of the Senju.

"You've heard of her court before?" Sakura asked.

"It's one of the larger courts, so yes."

"It's also one of the courts in charge of protecting a sleeper."

Sakura looked up suddenly at Shisui. "What?"

"You wouldn't have known, but it's one of the four courts put in charge of protecting a sleeper along with the Uchiha. A long time ago it was the Senju, but they passed that duty to the Fox Court." Shisui picked at another forkful of egg before shoveling it onto his fork. "But they would never tell a mere rabbit something like that unless he was sneaky enough to weasel his way into someone's good graces. Typically we rabbits are thought of so fondly." He bit the egg of his fork.

"And here I thought I came from a no name court. Ugh, that makes this so much worse now that I think about it."

"What worse?" Sai asks, leaning forward. Shisui eats more of his food from his seat but leans in as well.

"I'm almost positive that the fay who's memories I stole will be looking for me. I was praying we'd get lucky and I think thats what it has been so far. Two of them were lead hunters in the Rabbit Games."

Shisui flinched and then chuckled dryly. "That's a fun problem to have. I never thought I'd be running from their like again."

"You'll understand how I felt when I trained with Itachi. It wasn't the easiest," Sakura said softly, trying to be sympathetic. Shisui had his own demons to wrestle with.

"So, we're on the run from these guys as well?" Sai asked to clarify.

"Yeah, most likely, but we're in the human world so they'll be severely slowed down." Sakura pushed forward a salt shaker, tapping the metal top. "We got a few foxes following our scent." She then pushed up the pepper shaker. "And we have Danzo's fun friends on our tail. Which do you think is worse?"

"Danzo. We don't even know if your friends are hostile yet," Shisui said, pushing up the pepper shaker even further before grabbing it to sprinkle over his eggs. There was little left on his plate. "Also, Danzo will kill me when he finds me."

Sakura glared at Shisui. "Don't you mean if he finds you?"

Shisui grinned and it was rakish again. "He'll find me, that's not the big deal, catching me is."

"Speaking of Danzo…" Sakura cantered her eyes to the younger boy at the table. "Sai, what can you tell us about his goals. I can guess it has something to do with the sleepers?"

"Danzo wants access, information on how to access one of the sleepers. As I understand it, he wants to destroy it and prevent the inevitable destruction of our world."

Shisui snorted and then smirked when Sai looked over and almost glared. "What?" Shisui drawled, leaning back in his seat. "You said something funny. There's no way a human could comprehend, much less destroy something like one of the four primordial sleepers. They were here before the foundations of the world were cooled. They're much older than any of our courts on this pesky continent."

Sakura remembered the stories the fay told about the end of the world. There were shakers in the sky that would tear it apart, and conquering hoards that would reap the earth of life, and then there were the four sleepers who would tremble the earth asunder and make it anew.

There were even stories of heroes of old who found the sleepers and closed off all the tunnels into the earth a person could take. In Europe, the access to these sleepers was cut off long ago and the halls made into shrines for the Roving Hunt, the Wild Hoard, the Ancient Riders, and the Beastborn Crusaders were sacked and sealed up. Nothing could be done to stop the story of the creatures who would pull apart the skies, but the high places were torn down and the star charts were destroyed.

At least…that's what the stories say.

Sakura thought the fay stories of the end of the world too lyrical and pompous to be rooted in anything. But now she had seen a sleeper for herself, she couldn't afford to be an unbeliever any more.

"Danzo thinks he's a hero." Both boys turned to her when she spoke. "He thinks he's saving the world from this."

"What Danzo believes is no use to me. I only obey. That was my function."

"The nut job thinks he's a savior, just like the ones of old. That is one of the most dangerous things a villain can be. What is it they say about how we're all just the heroes of our own stories, even villains?"

Sakura dragged the last bit of her waffle through the syrup with her fork, frowning at the way the maple sugar parted and then was soaked up into the fluff of the waffle. With little left of her food, she savored it in her mouth before going for another bite. Across from her Shisui finished his eggs and Sai just stared at what was left of his food. Half of his original portion remained.

Sakura reached for her water and frowned when it came to her lips warm. All the ice had melted during their time at the table. She sipped at it before setting it aside and turned her wrist over to drag it across her mouth in place of a napkin. It had fallen off her lap earlier.

Sakura caught Shisui staring and wanted to say something about it, but stopped at the last moment. Shisui wasn't a stranger to staring, but this time something was different. She saw it in the tightness of the skin around his eyes, the way his shoulders hiked ever so slightly, like he was trying to hide it.

The ice was gone from all their cups and Sakura reached for Sai's on impulse, sipping it to check. She hissed when it came out warm. No, warmer than just warm.

No one was left in the Denny's.

"Tell me I'm not paranoid," Shisui hissed, shoulders shaking from suppressed tension. Sai picked up on it a second later.

"Shit," Sakura cursed, reaching under the table and lifting it up. The plates slid free as she toss the structure up over their booths to land where a flash of red had just been sitting. As soon as the table crashed down, Sakura was reaching for Sai and their things with a rabbit mask in place alongside a similarly transformed Shisui.

They didn't get far before fox fire sprang up in front of the doors, and then the windows. Sakura herded the boys to a far wall without fire and banged it hard. It only led to the kitchen, where she could hear more fire eating.

"Traps, great, my favorite," Shisui mocked, fingers tipped with black.

His eyes were red inside of his mask and wild. Sakura knew she was likely no different as Sai summoned his wand and began to paint with it. A wolf made out of ink was melted before it could take two steps and Sakura summoned her own wand before working alongside Sai to push back the flames when they began to grow closer.

Fox fire couldn't be put out with water or sand. It had to be smothered and that was hard to do in such a situation. Sakura couldn't remember ever actually achieving the fete. She had always elected to run through the fire herself and suffer the minor burns, least she become trapped and suffer major burns.

"Shisui, can you run through the flames to the outside?"

"Yeah."

Sakura hissed. "Then do it!" The fire around them was making her sweat and she could feel it seeping down behind her mask. It was stuffy and getting harder to breath too. There was no smoke, but the air was wild with shimmering heat all around them. There was nowhere to run that wouldn't be hot or in flames.

"I'm not gonna leave you behind, damn it," he stress laughed. "No. We're _not_ getting separated."

Sai cast his own water and ice spells on the fire but they burned up like ink on the flames. He took a step back behind Sakura as she transformed her wand back into a branch that faded away in a burst of petals.

"Fine, we'll make the run together. I've got Sai."

"You won't be able to keep up with a dead weight."

The fire roar and transformed, growing into a form like that of an animal. Someone cursed as it turned, crouched, and roared. Seconds later the flames turned crimson red down to their hearts and dulled. Amidst the flames a new woman walked.

"One of the new memory fay?" Sai asked, summoning an ink lion.

Sakura swallowed as the fire envoy came into view. "Yeah. Probably."

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That throws me to the ground  
I swear that you should hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

 _AN: Rough no edit adventure above! I'll maybe come back and fix a few things, but I need some time away from it first. :)_

I hope you enjoyed and stick around. Please review and let me know what you thought. I'm truly and honestly trying to better myself and want to work on this with that sort of goal.

Vesper Chan


	3. Chapter 3

Previously: White Rabbit (Raise it up)

* * *

 **Red Fox: Drumming Song III**

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That starts when you're around  
I swear that you could hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

Recap: The fire roar and transformed, growing into a form like that of an animal. Someone cursed as it turned, crouched, and roared. Seconds later the flames turned crimson red down to their hearts and dulled. Amidst the flames a new woman walked.

"One of the new memory fay?" Sai asked, summoning an ink lion.

Sakura swallowed as the fire envoy came into view. "Yeah. Probably."

* * *

"No use fighting it," Sakura laughed, grabbing for a discarded purse on the floor, already thinking about two minutes in the future. "Shisui, you distract it, preferably away from this wall here. Sai, you're going to use your ink beasts to tear this wall down. Once it's open Shisui and I can bolt you out of here."

"You want me to knocked down a wall?" Sai echoed.

Shisui sneered before his mask came down on his face. "Your ink magic is useless against this fire. Make yourself useful in something." And with those last biting words Shisui took off, dipping and diving over flame and fire as the envoy made out of magic and fox fire rounded on the black rabbit.

Sai glared but drew a bear out of ink that rose up high and came down on the plaster wall with lethal claws. Sakura scavenged for items the thralled patrons had left behind, keeping out of sight as she worried about how far they would have to go this time. An envoy made out of fire was a long distance strategy for hunters, but that didn't mean whoever was controlling it had to be far away. They could still be nearby, there was no guarantee of anything.

" _Sakura_."

She turned to see Sai already on the back of a griffin taking off out of the hole. Shisui landed in front of her and scooped her up before she could even don her mask or summon her powers.

"Don't bother," Shisui spoke into her ear before a whip of fire could reach him. He leapt out of the way with her in his arms. "I got _you_ this time."

Behind them Sakura heard the anger of the fire envy as it's target slipped away and wondered who it belonged to. She thought of the usual suspects and knew there was no way to know for sure since most of them were related and she hadn't seen their envoys well enough during the games to tell them apart. Could they be told apart? Naruto and his brother were so alike in many different areas, magic was just one of them.

"Not today," Shisui mocked, holding her to his chest and flash stepping away. His body was a blur in a world that ran in smears like a wet painting all around them. The fire envoy could only roar and hope to chase them.

It did not get far.

Now Sakura was grateful for having left their car by the hotel and walking to the Denny's. She wanted to stay the night and get her money's worth for their room, but she put Shisui and Sai in along with the things she had scavenged and tore out of there as inconspicuously as she could just as dusk fell into dark.

"Why did you take this stuff?" Sai asked, going through the purse that looked like it had belonged to a teenage girl. There wasn't much in their worth taking, but the teen did have snacks, which Sai appreciated.

Shisui grabbed a nicer looking purse and pulled it open, frowning as he sorted through the mess of it. "Is any of this important?"

"The money is. We need to eat and find a place to sleep each night that isn't this cramped hunk of junk. Plus there are other expenses to consider when on the run, like toiletries, gas, and-Shisui!" Sakura took her eyes off the road only to glance sideways at Shisui but did a double take when she saw him peeling open a heavy flow sanitary napkin.

"Odd for a bandage."

Sakura flushed before reaching out and smacking it out of his hands. "Don't touch that."

"Sakura," Sai called from the backseat. She felt her stomach roll at the tone in his voice.

"What?" she glanced into the rearview mirror.

"What is this?"

Sakura dragged her eyes away and set them back on the road, determined not to react. "That's a tampon. It's not for you and it's not a good idea to pull it open or touch it."

She heart the wrapper being pulled away as Sai ignored her and tugged on the string. Shisui turned around in his seat to tug at the tampon from the other end, echoing Sai's earlier question.

"I said to put it away, don't touch it."

"But what does it do?" Sai asked, sounding lost.

Shisui grabbed it away and rolled it around in his hands, feeling the soft parts. "I think it collects dust."

"Why would she have something like that in her purse?" Sai fired back, more accusatory than usual when it came to Shisui. "Your assumption makes no sense."

"Then what do you think it would be used for?" the older fay asked in a snappish tone.

Sai reached for the wrapper and smoothed it out to read the writing along the side. "For medium to heavy flow…it's for water. I must be to absorb water spills. She carried a cleaning device in her purse for messes."

"I'm not hearing this," Sakura muttered to herself, glaring at the road in front of her through the windshield. She almost wished she was back in the burning Denny's to avoid the secondhand embarrassment she was feeling from the two boys. She would have to be extra careful when it came time for her own period to hit, which was supposed to be soon.

At least they had found the worst thing first and it couldn't get any more uncomfortable than it already was.

There was more tearing in the backseat when Sai found something in the side zipper pouch of the teenager's bag. Sakura heard the sipper come down before the tearing. "Why would they name this rummer pouch after a Trojan?" Sai asked aloud.

Sakura felt the color drain from her face as she heard the elastic snap.

Three and a half hours later Sakura pulled into a gas station and took stock of their travels. A paper copy map lay open over the hood of her car as the pump fed gas into her tank. She had a red market from the glove compartment and was tracing their rout. They were heading south, which would eventually bring them too close to Virginian and the Fox Court she wanted to avoid so badly. They could try to pass by it and make it to Florida where most fay hated, or they could veer west and make a break for the middle lands were so little magic survived. The East Coast was too thick with lay lines and fay highways.

"You have a plan for us yet?"

Sakura looked up and saw Shisui staring at her from across the top of the car's hood. The pump clicked off but Sakura didn't move right away. It was late night and no one else was around.

"I wish I did. Right now I just need to get us to a motel for the night. Someplace open 24 hours. We can rest some more and think about our next steps there."

Shisui nodded, glancing at the silent pump. "That would be good. I don't want to travel much further away. If we-I decide to go back and fix things it would too long a trip for me to make on my own."

"You want to go back?" Sakura asked.

"No, I want to run away with you, but that's not what I should do." Shisui looked down when she stared at him. "Please don't think so little of me. Those were my family members he took Besides, you're going to go back for your friend with or without me. I won't leave you on your own for that."

"That's very noble sounding of you."

Shisui huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "That sounds like something Itachi would have said. He did selfless things all day long like it was expected of him but I was always the cowardly one. I need to know what went wrong with him."

"And I need to save Ino and Sarutobi's family. But…"

She glanced inside where Sai read one of the comic books he found stuffed under the seats from when Sakura was younger and would buy bulk crates of discount comics at nerd outlets. It was a favorite issue from the Spider Island series with Cloak and Dagger. The art was especially stunning.

"Sai signed up to get away from Danzo, to run from all this. I don't know if he's up for it, much less if he's capable of it."

The Uchiha fay shrugged and looked away. "I doubt he is, but he signed up to follow you, to turn the rest of his world upside down for you. He'll follow you to hell."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Don't baby the kid. He'll know and he doesn't need it. He needs someone to be real with him. That's the only way he'll grow from where he is now."

Sakura smiled and Shisui noticed, his ears turning red as he pretended to look away.

"I thought you didn't care about Sai."

"I _don't_. This was supposed to be _our_ getaway, just you and me, but now I'm stuck babysitting damaged human punks alongside the girl I like."

The tips of his ears were burning and it was cute to watch, considering that fay blood was gold and red color only showed as a result of emotion. Heat and physical discomfort like fever turned their skin a sickish yellow color. Sakura had seen that plenty enough, but never got tired of the way fay blushed. It was so rare, after all.

Sakura folded up her map and tossed it inside the car before turning to the pump. She paid it on a gas card she had pre filled with cash a few stations back. There was enough left on it for a few more gallons, but Sakura wasn't about to risk it again. She'd have to fill the card up before she used it again just to keep them off the radar. No doubt someone was watching to see if she was using her credit cards.

"Come on," She said with a nod. "We'll brainstorm ideas in the morning."

She slid into the drivers seat and Shisui followed her lead a minute later, ears still red as he watched her turn the key and put the car in gear. She didn't move but instead turned to look back over at Shisui. "What?"

"I like you."

"Y-you just said that."

"I like you." He leaned forward, closer to her, straining against the seatbelt. "I didn't think you knew that."

Sakura felt her face fill with color and cursed in her head. "Is that something I need to know now?" she asked, looking back at the road with her hands on the wheel. The car was still in park and idling.

"Yeah, I think you do cause you didn't pick up on it yourself," Shisui huffed. "I'm serious."

"You're fay."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and breathed out with a tired chuckle. "You're fay, I'm not. You don't know what it means to love a person. You're fascinated. You were fascinated with a _thing_ when you first asked for my name. It's no different now, and it's no different with Itachi. Fay don't feel like humans feel."

He sounded offended when he leaned his elbow on the divider between the seats that doubled as a storage section for CDs and paper napkins. "We don't know, or feel some emotions as deeply as your kind do, true, but we love just as well as any man or woman. I like you."

Sakura knew the stories, she had heard them all during her stay in the court she had traded herself away to. There were plenty of stories where a fay or a human steps out in love and somehow, through trial and terror, their love proves true and they live happily ever after in a new land between the here and the there.

The fay loved these stories for the impossibility and the struggle. It's hard for fay to believe in anyone wanting anything so badly or passionately. It's not an emotion they're born knowing how to feel. Wants and needs are always shallow until they touch humans and lean desperation.

Itachi lived among humans enough to learn their feelings. It wasn't hard to imagine someone as wild and outgoing as Shisui picking up a few things from all his dealings with Sarutobi and the human world. But that didn't mean she thought it was an honest attraction, only a convenient one.

He called her name and she remembered it was her turn to respond.

"You're _fascinated_ , just like Itachi. You're just kinder about how you show it."

"Itachi went about it the wrong way. But, what makes you think he wasn't also sincere about his feelings when he told you? We're fay, but that means we also can't lie. I just told you I like you, more than he does. I like you, Sakura."

Sai doesn't say anything from the backseat, but the comic book is lowered onto his lap.

Sakura doesn't speak at first, but instead switched the car out of park and into drive. The road was empty so she pulled out right away. Once they were driving straight again she opened her mouth. "You can like me all you want, that doesn't change what we are."

"Love between our kin is not such an impossible thing. The story of Avoria and Balem-"

"I'm not one of your damn stories," Sakura cut him off, sounding more tired and annoyed than angry.

Sweet pure Avoria so kind and lovely even the fay prince Balem bent his knee to her and kissed her ankles… it hurt to remember what it felt like to hear such stories as a stolen child in the Fox Court. As a girl that was all she wanted to be. All she had ever dreamed about was being the girl princess of wonder dripping in satin and jewels, face painted bright. How foolish she had been back then.

"Just…" she suck in a breath and then let it out, little by little. "Just, drop it. We'll be at a motel soon. I need a nap at the very least."

Sai leaned forward and leaned his head against the side of the seat where Shisui sat. "You tire more easily than either of us in that form."

Sakura felt like glaring, but kept her eyes on the road, evan as pain began to twinge low in her belly. "I'm fine."

"I did not mean that as a critique. You are guiding us, providing the finances for us, and driving us both around. You're the least capable of us and yet you're doing the most work."

Sakura took the next bend in the road slowly, glaring at the guardrail instead of Sai's reflection in the rearview mirror. "Okay Sai, I know you probably didn't mean to sound like a jackass, but you're kind of sounding like a jackass. You don't need to bring it up anymore. I get it."

Sai didn't seem to take offense. His facial expressions didn't change and his tone was the same when he spoke again. "You should take the next exit coming up. Exit 40A."

Sakura saw the exit coming up fast. "Why?"

"I know someone who hates Danzo. She might take us in," said Sai.

"Might?" Sakura echoed, tone doubtful even as she switched her blinker on and merged into the turnoff lane. "You don't think that's a bad idea going to see someone Danzo knows about. It might be a place he'd look for you."

"That is not likely. I was just as disliked as Danzo and even if he were to suspect my decision to seek her out, he wouldn't be able to oppose her as he is."

Shisui turned in his seat to look back at Sai. "Danzo has an army of changeling spies and more than one Uchiha fay under his command, one of which is the most deadly hunter in 300 years of Uchiha hunters. You think Danzo is weak just because he isn't a wizard?"

Sakura kept driving, but kept her attention divided between the road and Sai's words. Danzo wasn't a wizard, but if Sai was right about seeing icons being used, that meant Danzo was like her and a changeling. It didn't rank him very high on the power scales but there were things other than his powers that made him dangerous, like his mind, his drive, and the belief that what he was doing was noble and the right thing to do. Danzo believed he was saving the world and wasn't afraid of what he would have to do to keep that end from coming.

Sakura breathed out when another roll in her lower body made her want to wince. She needed to get to a bathroom soon.

"She's formidable in ways he is not equipped to counter," Sai answered Shisui even though his eyes were set on Sakura. He tapped her shoulder and pointed to the upcoming intersection. It was late, dark, and empty on the roads. "Take a left here and drive towards Autumn Grove."

Sakura did as Sai directed and followed the signs for Autumn Grove. There weren't a lot of them and in the dark the signs were hard to see unless they were reflective. Sakura suspected they were in a more rural part of Pennsylvania when the roads turned more windy and the drive led them through an abandoned patch of old Queen Ann and Second Empire Victorian styled homes that saw their end in the last great recession. It was another hour of driving through one dilapidated housing area into another, passing a few habited residences.

The trees became thicker on either side of the road, stretching out overhead and making a canopy of choking branches Sakura couldn't see the moonlight through. She had to slow down to follow the road when the lights started becoming few and far in between.

Sai gave a few more instructions and Sakura noted that they were heading further and further into the woodlands. The road was getting rougher too. Not a lot of travelers came this way.

"Slow down, there's going to be a turn off coming up on your right but you could miss it if you're going too fast."

And Sakura was so she did miss it the first time, but there was no one on the road or awake for miles so she put the car in reverse and went back to take the dirt road that led down into a level of woodland far wilder than what she was used to seeing on this side. The human world could be wild, but not like this.

"What are we getting into here?" Shisui asked, sensing it as well. He was agitated, twitching in his seat. Sakura swallowed and tasted bad apples in the back of her mouth.

"Don't stop, keep going." Sai touched her shoulder in encouragement.

Sakura swallowed before reply. "I couldn't turn around if I wanted to."

The trees were so close on either side of the small dirt path Sakura was worried they wouldn't be able to get through in some places. Maybe the trees had grown up too thick for a car to get between them on this old road. She really didn't want to get stuck here. Not here, not with so many bad apples rotting in the back of her mouth. She wanted honey.

Sakura saw in the distance a shape like a house standing up. She pulled ahead a little faster and the trees fell away for more open space. She grinned when she saw the cabin and yard but that grin died the second her engine did. Sakura felt it go dead under the hood before the lights turned off and the thing rattled into silence.

Sakura blinked and tried the key again and again. There was nothing she could do, no way it would turn on for her. Her car was dead, and it wasn't because of a poor battery or lack of gas.

"Sai," she called, not wanting to sound as panicked as she felt. "What is this?"

"She doesn't like visitors." Sai scooted in his seat to the door and pulled up the lock before opening it and sliding out.

Shisui cursed from his seat before doing the same. "You couldn't have told us that before we made the trip all the way out here?"

"It's not important." Sai walked over and stood in front of the driver's door. "Sakura…the car isn't going to start until she wants it to. You should come out and walk with us the rest of the way."

Sakura swallowed and felt like choking. There were rotting apples in her throat but then there was something else, something more. Magic, and then something not quite magic. It made the teeth in her throat want to come out and play. She shivered, hands white on the wheel, gripping it like a lifeline.

Sai opened her door and she didn't even flinch when he reached in to touch her shoulder. She heard him call her name when she didn't move right away. Inhaling, smelling cold air and pine, Sakura undid her seatbelt and let it roll back up on it's own while she climbed out. She listened to the way the earth shifted under her booths. She listened to the crunch of the forest floor as she stepped on it and walked away from her car. The forest around her was still, so unnaturally so. She could feel it holding it's breath like a living thing.

'Why do I feel like I just walked into a dragon's mouth?'

'Maybe we did.'

Sakura startled when she felt Shisui brush up against her. The action had been intention, as he reached for hand to hold and squeeze in reassurance. She felt his thumb run over her knuckles and suppressed the shiver.

"I don't like this Sai, I don't like this," Sakura whispered, feeling tired and small and too much like the little girl that got lost in a fairy ring all those years ago. Her eyes went to the forest floor and searched for fungi and spotted a few, but not enough to make a ring. No stones either.

Sai walked forward and pulled out his wand before creating a butterfly on his hand that glowed white and cast the surrounding area in a musty glimmer. Sakura blinked under the light as Sai turned and scanned the tree line.

"Konan!" Sai called out. He turned around and drew another glowing butterfly that took off to circle around his head. He called the name once more. "I've come apart of Danzo. Please meet with me."

Through their joined hands Sakura felt Shisui flinch. She looked up at his face and frowned. "What's wrong."

"He just said Konan, right?" When she nodded he cursed under his breath, pulling her closer and scanned the trees again. "I was afraid of that."

"You know her?" Sakura asked. "Is she a fay like you then?"

"Nothing so simple. She's not fay or witch or wizard or anything you can label so neatly. She was once a girl spirited away on the ring day from the wrong place and fairyland has not forgotten her since."

"She's a…changling?"

"No, she's just loved."

Sakura didn't understand Shisui's words or his new worry. "What? Loved? What is that supposed to mean? Loved by who?"

The world around Sakura shifted. She stumbled on uneven ground and turned, falling against Shisui's shoulder. She looked back over her own and nearly stopped breathing. A buck majestic with his ten point rack stalked through the trees, missing the tangling branches even though he was the size of a three story building. It moved through the trees and then behind it the shadowed body hovered in place, flickering from the side of one tree to the other before blinking out of sight.

Sakura felt her gut roll and turned to her opposite side and saw another monster standing between the trees, nearly eight feet high with his bird bone mask and twisted, white bone antlers. The Leshy cocked his head slightly to the side to stare at her in avian curiosity before reaching up to hold the birch rod about his head in warning. The Leshy had a body of bark and stood like something that didn't know how to die, moss growing over his clavicle and right biceps. From the waist down he wore tattered brown cloth like a skirt.

"Not who…what," Shisui whispered back. "And it's this forest that loves her."

There was something else beyond the trees and Sakura heard the small things skitter under the dead and fallen leaves like mice. There was no light except the light of a crescent moon partly blocked by silver stained clouds and a sky full of stars and stories.

"Sai," a new voice called into the clearing. Moments later a woman with beautiful cheekbones and a pierced lower lip stalked into the clearing. She wore her flannel around her waist and a black, crop tank that showed off the navel piercing. Her hair was dark, but in the moon light Sakura thought I looked blue outside of the slouching beanie.

"Konan," Sai greeted back.

She stood and crossed her arms over her chest and glared down her nose at the boy. "I thought I told you never to come back to these lands. Did you forget?"

"I'm not with Danzo. We came to seek-"

"I don't care what you want, you won't find it here. Leave before my Leshy eats you."

The forest around them trembled and Sakura knew in her gut that this had been a bad idea.

* * *

Sai looked off to the side where the creature of the forest hovered between the trees. He turned his attention back to the woman called Konan and exhaled. "I'm sure he would love to make a meal of your enemies, but we are not here to antagonize or irritate you. We need your help."

Konan took a half step back, blinking and frowning even more. "Help? What makes you think I could give you that even if I wanted to. I'm not one of your allies in the games you people play. I took myself off the board a long time ago."

"Which is why you wouldn't know what has happened to Danzo or the wizard Sarutobi."

Konan waved a hand dismissively through the air. "Don't care."

"But Danzo has overthro-"

The Leshy between the trees crouched and screamed like a dying bird, making Sakura's spine tingle in warning. It had cut Sai off but it's aggressive stance shifted into something else as the bird skull face peered down at Sakura. It was angry or maybe just irritated. Still, it stayed between the trees.

"Like I said," Konan began. "I don't care. You really never understood anything, Sai. Out of all the changelings I've met I've probably liked you the least. This is the last time I want to have to warn you."

Shisui growled in annoyance, releasing Sakura's hand to take up a stand along Sai and address the girl Konan. "Please, we just need a place to stay and hide for a little while. We've been hunted."

Sakura felt something wet and smelled blood. She cursed as another painful roll made it feel like her insides were being minced. She held her elbows to her stomach and bent over, feeling her knees knock. She shivered and felt sweat on her forehead. 'Shit, not now.'

"Who is this, Sai? Another Uchiha?" Konan turned her nose up at the sight of the two boys. "Never thought I'd see you working with a fay willingly. But now I really want to see you get out of here. I hate fay even more than changlings."

Sakura slowly sank to the ground, arms wrapped around her as her hip rustled the leaves, followed by her shoulder and the side of her face. She could feel the stain of blood and knew she had been too late to catch one of her more sudden periods. She should have anticipated the stress triggering it early.

She sucked in a breath and shivered, feeling her body lose warmth before a wave of heat warmed her body. Some strange magic it was to be human. Why was a period more painful than an encounter with a horned woman.

Sakura felt something behind her and looked up to see the bird skull mask of the Leshy towering over her. She barely breathed while it leaned down and stretched his tree like hands towards her. His fingers grew like branches around her and Sakura felt herself being caught.

'Worst luck ever,' Sakura thought before also adding, 'I hope no one notices the blood stains cause that would be super embarrassing.'

"What are you doing to her? You said you would let us go if we just left us alone. Put her down!" Shisui's voice was tight and panicked as he startled among the dead leaves. Sai held his breath and didn't move.

"Who is she, Sai?" Konan asked, tone clipped and harsher than before. "She's human."

"How could you tell?" Sai asked, voice too calm for a boy watching his favorite person be wrapped up in living branches from a Leshy's hands.

Konan stalked down from her spot on the small ridge and pushed the two boys aside to approach her Leshy. The forest spirit lowered his hands and Sakura stirred between them like a bird in a nest, still holding her stomach and riding out a hot flash. With a jerk of her chin she motioned for the Leshy to follow her with Sakura in his hands.

"You two can follow behind us," Konan barked at Sai and Shisui.

"Why is he carrying her? What's wrong with Sakura? Why can't she walk?" Shisui pestered, dashing over to the Leshy's side and then back so he was too far away to get smacked before flickering back over to the Leshy's opposite side. He tried to see into the creature's hands but dashed away when it cried like an angry bird and lifted Sakura higher.

"Shisui, just shut up and follow Sai," Sakura groaned, setting her jaw against the pain that made her eyes go wide. Cramps would roll over her and be done soon, that wasn't a big deal, but she hated to think of how embarassed she would be when she would have to ask to clean up.

"Follow close, black rabbit," Konan barked, picking something off from where it leaned against a tree and shouldering it. Through the branches Sakura could see it was a rifle or a shotgun of some sort. It was hard to tell in the dark.

Sai and Shisui followed close behind while the black balls of soot that hid under the leaves chirped out in their own language as they raced along the forest floor ahead of them. Before they left the tree line for the clearing in front of the house a second Leshy came out from between the trees to loom over the two boys. This one had a ash white bear mask and was heavier set. On his shoulder a smaller Leshy crouched with a mouse skull mask.

Konan hopped ahead of the group and opened the doors to the front of her house before holding them open for the boys to slip inside. The smallest mouse skull Leshy hoping off the shoulder it sat upon and scurried into the house behind the boys. When Konan didn't follow them inside Shisui turned on his heel sharply and glared at the nest around Sakura.

"What are you going to do with Sakura?"

"Shut up and sit down. She'll be fine. Just wait on the couch like Sai is doing and you'll get some food or something." Konan took a step back on the porch and grabbed onto the wrist of the bird Leshy. "Watch the rabbit one, Roach," Konan said, speaking to the mouse Leshy.

Without another word Konan pulled herself up onto the arm of her Leshy and nodded towards a window on the second floor. It stretched and grew like a tree towards the open window, reaching his hands into the open window so Sakura was no longer outside. Konan followed the sweating girl into the bathroom and waved the wood spirit away, closing the window behind them.

"You look like shit right now," Konan began.

"I feel like it, too," Sakura laughed, pushing herself up and keeping her legs tightly pressed. "Sorry you had to see that."

Konan glared lightly. "I'm a human like you, and much less a girl, so don't think this is something I don't understand or something you have to apologize for. You have napkins?"

Sakura flushed and reached into one of her pockets for an unopened napkin she lifted from another woman's purse. It would work. Konan nodded and stood, moving towards the door to the bathroom. "You look smaller than me, but I'll get you a change of clothes. Roach can wash your old things and get those back to you later. I'll be back with ibuprofen."

Sakura flushed before holding up a hand and speaking quickly. "I have things to change into in my car. There's a green duffle bag, it has unicorn patches on the side, and I have clean things in there for me. If I could just have that I wouldn't need to put you out."

Konan watched Sakura for a moment in the doorway before nodding and closing the door behind her. Sakura breathed out in relief before getting out of her dirty things and seeing to her needs. She was grateful she didn't throw up this time. It could have been worse.

Fay didn't have periods or bleed once a month like human girls did. It was so odd and uncomfortable to go through puberty the first time in the fairylands where she was treated like a pariah for what happened every cycle.

They gave her things and squared her away in a tent where no one could hear or see or smell her until her week was over. Eventually they started giving her medication that made it every other month instead of every month, and by the time the races came she was old enough to take the soup that stopped her menstrual cycles altogether.

After the games it was like she was one of them. Almost.

Sakura bit her lip when another roll of pain made her double over. This part was the worst because of how she still remembered the shame and embarrassment that came the first time she learned about her body. Sick, ugly, disgusting humans. What fay could fall in love with something like that? Shisui was a silly fool that didn't know what he was talking about.

There was a knock on the door and then it opened a crack for her bag to be tossed in along with a bottle of pills and some water. Sakura swallowed, feeling her eyes wet in relief.

"Thank you," she called through the door.

Konan didn't say anything, but the footsteps echoed away.

Minutes later Sakura was cleaning up and neatly tucking her ruined things up into themselves to hide the stains. The ibuprofen was starting to kick in, but Sakura knew it would be a little while longer before the rolls of her crams abated and another four to five days before the bleeding ended.

She didn't want to think about the use of her powers and how for all this time they would be beyond her reach if she wanted to transform. She couldn't become a rabbit when she was menstruating. She was useless to the boys right now.

She opened the door and stepped out, soiled things in her hands. The bedroom she had walked into was empty and she started to panic like a teenager on her first day in high school all over again.

Something played with the shoelaces of her boots and Sakura jerked back, nearly stepping on the black critters that darted around her feel like balls of soot. One grabbed for her shoestrings and she slipped out of her boots as quickly as she could. They darted inside and then ran right out.

Shadow spirits, the creatures of the absences of the forest. They started to chirp and crawl up her leg, sliding down and crawling back down every few inches.

"What do you want-this?" Sakura held out the dirty things and they chirped louder. She set her things down and they swarmed in on it, becoming a black mass that seeped into the floorboard cracks and disappeared.

"Helpful little buggers, eh?"

Sakura looked up and Konan was there, far off in the doorway to the hallway. Sakura noted that the room seemed pieced together when Konan stood in contrast to the slanted angle of the doorframe. It was an old house but something about Konan seemed ageless.

"You're human?" Sakura breathed, almost doubtful.

There was a quirk of the lip before Konan lifted her chin and nodded. She reached up and tugged off her beanie and tossed it onto the bed. She ran a hand up into her hair and fluffed it up from underneath. "Yeah, I'm human. Bleed red and nothing else if that's what you mean."

Sakura flushed, thinking of her earlier incident. "Thank you for your help."

Konan regarded her with narrowed eyes before replying. "Sai tried to tell me your story but I told him to shut it so I could get it from you. If the sprites did their job those boys should be passed out on the couch by now so don't ask for them."

Sakura swallowed. "This is your home, you've every right to be pissed. I would have insisted on a hotel if I knew where Sai was taking us. We've been a mess since Hallow's Eve when Danzo overthrew Sarutobi."

Konan winced condescendingly and wagged a finger. "Yeah, you're saying the same thing as the brat but I already told him I don't care what happened to those old farts. No external event will change my mind and make me want to keep you here. I'm asking you because I want to know your story. Not what happened to the others or their tuffs, but what are you doing mixed up in all of it. The rabbit seemed smitten with you, but you don't look stupid enough to fall for a fay."

Now it was Sakura's turn to smirk. "Hardly. I was supposed to just be the accountant and had no idea the fay would be involved when I took the job with Sarutobi."

Konan seemed to perk up and gestured to a couch at the foot of the bed for Sakura to sit while she pulled up a chair from the vanity to sit at. It was easy to talk to Konan and before Sakura knew what had happened, she found herself spilling everything out to the older looking girl.

Sakura recalled the events leading up to her working for Sarutobi. She talked about how she had been tricked into revealing she was a White Rabbit and the old wizard tried to help her recover from the trauma of her first childhood. She talked about the training, about Itachi, about the horned woman, about Shisui coming around, and then about the party where everything went to hell.

Sakura touched her chest and pulled her hand away with the wrath that held the last of her icons. The silver bell etched with skulls and unicorns made no sound as Sakura turned it over in her hands. The Foxglove Bell.

"I used Harrowing magic to use it since I was still mostly drained and it broke one of my victory icons in payment. I used that icon to seal up the memories of myself from members of my court. It's also the reason we look such a mess. Because of what I did, the taboo of stealing a fay's memories, the Fox Court has members out looking for me. I only made it worse for those two."

Konan snorted over the head of the chair. "If anything those two are lucky to be alive. Without you I don't think they would be as well off. Even Sai, he'd be sitting pretty with Danzo, but he wouldn't be anywhere near as human as he now seems. Three years ago when he first came here with Danzo he was worse than most fay prince."

"You've known Sai that long?"

Konan shrugged, pulling the chair out from under her as she stands. "I guess, but I wouldn't say I really 'know' the kid. I don't 'know' anyone. I live out here on my own for that reason. Sai tell you who I was?"

Sakura shook her head. "Only that you didn't like Danzo and you might be able to help."

"I don't know about helping, but yeah, I hate Danzo. He was interested in the court I came from and I was interested in never having anything to do with that world ever again. I tripped into the wrong fairy ring and ended up on the other side for a few years. I just wanted to get home though, and one day that became possible because of this forest."

Sakura clasped her hands and leaned forward, eyes wide and ready for the story. Konan caught the look of admiration and huffed, grabbing the back of the chair she had been sitting in and squeezed the wood.

"You know how our world is a reflection world of the fay world and how different parts are thinner and easier to pass over, lay lines, mirrors, sacred sites, forests…?" When Sakura nodded Konan went on, holding up a hand that carried scurrying shadow sprites. "Yeah, well I ran until I found one of those and these guys on this side helped me cross over and kept me safe when fay came hunting. They were pretty gentle with you, but these little cuties can be just as scary as the Leshy. You don't want to ever see their teeth."

As if to mock her or maybe because they really didn't understand, two of the five black sprits hanging onto her hand opened up and showed off rows of teeth shaped more like needles. One of the two made a kissing sound before closing his mouth and running around in circles atop Konan's palm.

"They seem to like you too."

"I…" Sakura stumbled over the words in her mind. "I've never seen such creatures on this side of the worlds before. I thought such things only existed in the fay lands."

"You only see them now because I'm out. They would sleep for another hundred years if it wasn't for a _caretaker_. It's nothing special, and I promise you I don't have any powers that make me anything other than human, but I take care of the forest here and these guys just seem to multiply for it. In the beginning there were only a few but now there's too many to even name."

"What makes them like a person, or prefer one person over the other?" Sakura mused, watching the black critters move and dance on Konan's hand. She remembered too clearly how the fay saw her in the beginning. She had assumed most supernatural things saw humans as dirty or boring.

Konan shook her hand and the little black spirits went flying with cries of glee or shock or both. "Hell if I know. I just weed the place around here and tell intruders like Sai to piss off. Speaking of intruders, I was rude and didn't even offer you anything to eat before I made you talk. You're hungry, right?"

Sakura looked out the window at the dark sky that looked like it was as black as it was ever going to get. She felt tired in her bones and wondered how much of that was because of her period and how much of that was because of the time.

"Actually, and I hate to do this, but I just want to pass out. You have a couch I could borrow?"

Konan shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest while looking towards the door. "I've got one downstairs but both those goons are asleep on it and I never anticipated guests so there's nothing like an extra bed either. Sorry, but if it's okay with you, mine is big enough for two. You can use this one here."

Sakura felt light in the back of her head and wanted more and more to sleep the more she thought of it. "I'm sorry for putting you out like this."

Konan waved her off. "It's nothing. I'm going to see to the leshy stuck outside and I'll be back later. You should turn in first. In the morning I'll talk with the rest of you about what I can do to help you with your friends stuck with Danzo. You seem to care for your friend at least."

"I owe a lot to Ino and she's precious to me," Sakura nodded.

Konan grinned and took a step backwards, towards the door. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do, but no promises. Don't wait up for me, Socks."

Sakura blinked. "Socks?"

Konan grinned and eyed Sakura's socks, left exposed after the shadow sprits forced her out of her boots. The socks were mismatched. One was blue with mermaids swimming with narwhals and the other was green with UFO's beaming up dinosaurs. Sakura blushed.

"Night, Socks," Konan called, heading out into the hallway and down the stairs.

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That throws me to the ground  
I swear that you should hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

 _AN: Rough no edit adventure above! I'll maybe (lol) come back and fix a few things, but I need some time away from it first. :)_

 _THERE IS THIS AMAZING PIECE OF ARTWORK that you should check out. Actually, there's a few that are amazing and I wish links work. If you want to check out some stuff you can go to my tumblr: vesperlionheart . tumblr. com and check out the tags for White Rabbit. There's a lot of stuff for it now. This was going to be a shorter chapter, but I got inspired this week and made it another few thousand words longer._

I hope you enjoyed and stick around. Please review and let me know what you thought. I'm truly and honestly trying to better myself and want to work on this with that sort of goal.

Vesper Chan


	4. Chapter 4

Previously: White Rabbit (Raise it up)

* * *

 **Red Fox: Drumming Song III.5 ANNOUNCMENT**

* * *

There's a drumming noise inside my head  
That starts when you're around  
I swear that you could hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

 _-Drumming Song_  
 _Florence + the Machine_

* * *

AN: So I have this story up on my A03 account and while it's not super popular anywhere, it does gain more attention there than here, so I've made the decision to delete it from this site and keep it up only on /works/8441044/chapters/21473990 my (Vesperchan) Archive of our own account. I've uploaded chapter seven there this week and it's all one story-so no point in getting lost or confused. I'm updating biweekly or weekly over there.

I'm sorry for those who were following this and actually looking forward to what happens next. I don't ever really delete work, but I'm taking it down from this venue. It's one of my favorite stories and I have grade plans for it still.

Vesper Chan


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